Unemployment rate at 8-month low of 4.7% in November, shows PLFS

Buoyed by the robustness in rural job market on account of rabi sowing, India's monthly unemployment rate fell to an eight-month low of 4.7 per cent in November, latest periodic labour force survey (PLFS) monthly bulletin released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Monday showed. 

 

Data by the NSO pegged the unemployment rate in November for the 15 years and above category in current weekly status (CWS) terms in rural areas at 3.9 per cent. It was down from 4.4 per cent in the preceding month. 

 

For urban areas, the jobless rate fell to 6.5 per cent from 7 per cent during the same period. 

 

In CWS, the activity status is determined by the reference period over the past seven days preceding the date of the survey.

 

Under this, a person is considered unemployed in a week if he did not work even for one hour on any day during the reference week but sought or was available for work at least for one hour on any day during the reference week.

 

The data further showed that the unemployment rate among men and women fell to 4.6 per cent and 4.8 per cent from 5.1 per cent and 5.4 per cent, respectively, during the month. 

 

This is the lowest monthly unemployment rate recorded by the PLFS, since the start of the bulletin by NSO in April 2025.   

 

Meanwhile, the labour force participation rate (LFPR) — which is a measure of the number of people either working or looking for work — rose slightly to 55.8 per cent in November from 55.4 per cent in October.

 

In rural areas, the figure rose to 58.6 per cent from 57.8 per cent, while in urban areas it fell marginally to 50.4 per cent from 50.5 per cent. 

 

“Rural female LFPR continued its steady upward trend, increasing from 35.2 per cent in June 2025 to 39.7 per cent in November 2025. Urban female LFPR remained broadly stable at around 25.5 per cent,” said an NSO in a statement. 

 

The Worker Population Ratio (WPR), which reflects the share of people actually employed among those looking for work, rose to 53.2 per cent in November from 52.5 per cent in October. 

 

“The trends suggest strengthening labour market conditions, supported by gains in rural employment, rising female participation, and a gradual recovery in urban labour demand,” said the NSO in a statement.

 

The sampling methodology of PLFS has been revamped by the NSO from January 2025 in a bid to estimate the key employment and unemployment indicators on a monthly basis for rural and urban areas in the CWS method.